Cruel to be Kind
by c00kiefic
Summary: When Jackie is kidnapped and the gang has to prove they care about her, Hyde is forced to admit his true feelings. JF will end JH. Takes place after season 8. Final chapter is up, read and review!
1. Chapter 1

When Jackie is kidnapped and the gang has to prove they care about her, Hyde is forced to admit his true feelings. J/F will end J/H. Takes place after season 8.

This was inspired by the Nick Lowe song Cruel to be Kind and in a way, Disney's Robin Hood, even though this story has very little in common with both of them. Or maybe it has a lot in common. Go figure. It'll be short, maybe three or four chapters at most. The last chapter has also been written, so I just need to get from A to B.

Just as warning, some of the things in this story are not for the faint of heart. Jackie gets hurt and if that displeases you, please don't read. It's not as violent as some stories out there, but the story is rated T for a reason.

Please review! I don't own.

* * *

The sun was bright as Jackie walked home from work. Her car was in the shop, Fez was working until five, and she didn't have any money for a taxi or the bus. The cold winter air chilled her bones as she tried to ignore the feeling of being watched. It was only a block from her home when she felt a cold hand holding a rag over her mouth, and a raspy voice telling her to be quiet. As the chlorophyll filled her lungs and she fainted, her last thought was of a man with curly hair and sideburns.

She woke up tied to a chair in a dark room. Her clothes were still on, and the contents of her purse had been poured out in front of her. She saw that everything was still there, except for her address book.

"You're awake, good." The same raspy voice said to her in the darkness.

Jackie turned her head to the direction of the voice. "When I get out of here I'm going to kick your ass!"

The voice laughed. "No you won't." The man came out of the darkness. He was a short bald man with a beer gut. "We haven't been properly introduced, I'm Mr. Kind."

"Mr. Kind?" She asked incredulously. "What kind of stupid name is that?"

"You should be nice to me Jackie."

She didn't want to ask, but she had to, "Are you going to kill me?"

He shook his head. "No, not unless my boss tells me too."

He had a boss. That meant someone else had planned this.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"Somewhere you're friends won't find you. Not that it matters." He shrugged.

"What do you mean?"

He laughed. "Think about it Jackie, your friends won't bother looking for you. Michael is in Chicago Donna and Eric are in Madison, Steven is busy with the record store, and even if he wasn't, he wouldn't care that you're gone."

"You forgot about Fez!" Jackie exclaimed. "He's my boyfriend and he's going to try to find me."

"The operative word being try." With that, Jackie heard the door to the room close, and she was alone.

* * *

Fez looked anxiously at the clock on the wall. It had been two hours and Jackie still wasn't home yet. He had called her work and they had told him she had left already. He had tried the Forman's but they hadn't heard from her. He thought about calling the record store but decided against it, as Jackie rarely went to the store anymore. He had hoped that at least for their sakes, Jackie and Hyde could have found a way to get along and called a truce, but the tension was still ripe between them. Fez shook his head to get rid of any thoughts of lingering feelings between his girlfriend and her ex. Right now, he was more concerned with her not being home.

He thought to himself where Jackie could be. The light bulb went off in his head and he ran out of the apartment.

He searched for an hour in the mall before admitting defeat. She also wasn't at The Hub or the Salon.

Where the hell was she? He walked out of the Salon, bumping into a bald man. "Excuse me." He said politely, moving out of the man's way.

"It's fine." The man's voice was scratchy, as thought he had smoked too many cigarettes.

He had run out of places to look. Fez sighed and went to Grooves. Maybe Hyde would know where Jackie was.

Fez took a deep breath before entering the store. The familiar chime rang and Hyde looked up from the counter.

"Hey Fez." Hyde looked back down at his magazine.

Fez looked around the store, hoping that Jackie was there.

"Hey Fez!" Leo came up to him. "Where's loud girl man?"

"I don't know."

The way he said it made Hyde look back up. "What do you mean you don't know?" He walked up to Fez.

Fez gulped. "I came home and she wasn't there, so I called the station and they said she had left two hours before. So I called the Forman's and Kitty said she wasn't there, and then I tried The Mall, The Hub, and the Salon."

Hyde ignored his pounding heart. "Did you try her mom's house?"

Fez nodded. "I called and the maid said she hadn't seen Jackie in over a week."

"So you came here to see if Jackie was here?" Hyde asked.

"That and to see if you knew where she could be. You know her better than anyone." He didn't bother trying to mask his jealousy.

Seeing the worry on his friend's face broke Hyde's resolve. "Come on." He grabbed his keys and left Leo to look after the store.

They jumped into Hyde's El Camino and took off. He drove to the water tower and they got out.

Fez looked up at the Fez plus Michael sign. "I really need to fix that."

Hyde tried not to laugh. He thought it had been rather appropriate. They looked around; trying to find a sign that Jackie had been there.

"Well, she's not here." He said. "Let's try the reservoir."

The only thing at the reservoir was a couple of teenagers skinny dipping.

Hyde called out to them. "Hey!"

One of them swam up closer. "Yeah?"

"Have any of you seen a woman? This tall, brown hair?"

"Beautiful!" Fez shouted. Hyde didn't disagree with him. Jackie was beautiful. He remembered seeing her in a wedding gown.

Oh god.

The guy shook his head. "Sorry dude."

Fez looked at Hyde and saw his expression harden.

"Come on."

Hyde drove to the secluded spot in the woods where he and Jackie had their first date. The moon was beginning to be shadowed by a thick layer of clouds.

"Let's go, she's probably back at your apartment."

Fez nodded. "You're right. And I'm going to give her a piece of my mind for scaring me!"

Hyde had already made a promise to himself to do the same thing. He dropped Fez off at his car and drove back to the Formans.

He was barely in the door when Kitty was handing him the phone. "It's for you, it's Fez."

"Fez?"

"She isn't here." Fez's voice was frantic. "And Fenton says she hasn't been here."

Hyde took a deep breath. "Calm down Fez. Just come here." He hung up the phone.

Hyde turned to Kitty. "Where's Red?"

"He's in the den." She went to go get him.

* * *

Mr. Kind entered the dark room with food for Jackie. "I can't untie you of course, so I'm going to have to feed you." He sat next to her and unwrapped the burger.

"Open your mouth."

Jackie wanted to refuse but she was too hungry not to comply. She opened her mouth and Mr. Kind put the burger in her mouth. She took a bite and chewed.

"That's a girl." He patted her on the knee. She took another bite.

"I saw your boyfriend at The Hub." He told her. "He was looking for you."

"I told you he'd look for me!"

"Which I never disputed, but he's not going to find you. None of them are ever going to find you. He held the hamburger up to her mouth again. She took a bite and chewed.

"You're just going to have to accept the fact that you're not going to see your friends ever again."

She spit her half chewed hamburger at him. It landed on his face. He wiped it off his cheek and stood up.

"Just for that, you're not getting anymore. You need to learn to be nice to me Jackie." He left the uneaten hamburger in front of her and walked out.

She looked up at the ceiling. "He'll find me." She whispered, before breaking down and crying. She closed her eyes and saw curls.

* * *

Red was on the phone with the police. "She's been missing for five hours now." He listened to the cop on the other line. "What do you mean I have to wait twenty four hours to file a missing persons report? What kind of dumbass rule is that?" Red hung up in disgust and turned to the four worried people sitting at the kitchen table.

Kitty stood up. "I'm going to make a pie." Red put his hand on Kitty's arm. "No, Kitty, you're going to sit down."

"I can't just sit here, Red!" She shouted at her husband. "One of our kids is missing and if you think I can just sit here and worry then you're sadly mistaken!" She pushed past him and went to the refrigerator. Red put his hand back on Kitty's back and she turned around and fell into his embrace.

Hyde stood up and went to the phone.

"Who are you calling?" Fez asked.

"Donna and Eric, maybe she went there."

Bob smiled. "Why didn't we think of that before?"

Donna answered the phone sounding sleepy. "It's ten thirty."

"Is Jackie there?" Hyde asked.

"No hi, no how are you?" Donna said, amused.

"I don't have time for this Donna, is Jackie there?"

"No. She isn't."

"Did she say anything about coming up there?"

"No, I haven't talked to her since yesterday." "Hyde, what's going on?"

"Jackie's missing."

"She's probably just at the mall."

"We tried there. We tried everywhere we could think of. She's gone." No, she wasn't gone. She probably just wanted to be alone and would show up any minute now. Yeah, that was it. She's was hiding. Hyde willed himself to believe it.

Fez reached into his pocket to pull out an emergency tootsie roll. He pulled out a piece of paper. On it was a telephone number.

"Hyde?" He said, not looking up.

Hyde turned to him. "Hold on Big D." "What is it Fez?"

Fez held up the piece of paper.

"Fez, I don't need to see what number you've gotten from some chick okay?" his voice was hard and impatient.

Fez shook his head. "This isn't mine."

Everyone turned to him. "Are you sure Fez?" Kitty asked him.

He nodded. "I don't know whose number this is."

"Donna, I need to go, I'll call you if I hear anything." He hung up the phone.

Red grabbed the paper out of Fez's hand and went to the phone. "Let's see whose number this belongs to." He dialed the number.

"I was beginning to think you would never call."

"Where is she?" Red didn't bother with niceties.

"Who is this?" The voice asked.

"This is Red Forman, and you're going to tell me where Jackie is."

"I don't think so. Let me talk to her boyfriend." The man demanded.

Red relented and handed the phone to Steven. "He wants to talk to her boyfriend."

Hyde gave him a look and handed the phone to Fez. "Fez is her boyfriend now."

Red looked over at Kitty. "When did that happen?" he mouthed.

"This is Fez." He said into the phone.

"SHUT UP!" the man screamed on the other end. "Sorry about that, your girlfriend just doesn't know when to shut the fuck up!" The last part was yelled.

"You let her go you sick son of a bitch!"

"I can't do that." He said.

"Let me talk to her." He demanded. There was a pause as the man though about it. "I will call you back in five minutes." The man hung up.

"What does he want?" Red asked.

"He's going to call back in five minutes."

* * *

As soon as Donna hung up the phone she went to the closet and pulled out her and Eric's over night bags and started to throw clothes into them.

"What's going on?" He asked, his voice rough with sleep.

"They can't find Jackie."

Eric chuckled. "Well, I don't see what's so bad about that."

Donna turned and stared at her boyfriend. "God you're such a dillhole, go call Kelso and tell him to meet us at the Formans." She continued to throw their clothes into the bags.

"Donna, she probably just didn't want to go home to her creepy boyfriend."

"Eric, Hyde sounded worried."

"Are you sure you talked to Hyde?"

She nodded. "Eric, we have to go back."

Eric sighed and grabbed a shirt and a pair of pants. "Just let me get dressed."

Mr. Kind brought the phone into the room and sat it on Jackie's lap.

"You are going to call them and you will tell them that you're fine and to do whatever I say. Capice ?"

Jackie nodded and picked up the receiver and dialed the Forman's number.

"Hello?" Fez's voice said on the other end.

"Fez?"

"Jackie! Are you alright?"

"FIND ME ST" Mr. Kind took the phone and slammed it down. "I told you not to do that."

He threw the phone against the wall and reached for his belt buckle. "I told you to be nice to me Jackie. For that little stunt you're getting ten lashings." He told her as he took off his belt.

He cracked it like a whip. "One."

She cried out as it hit her cheek.

"Two."

"Three."

She begged him to stop.

"Four."

CUT

The sliding door opened and Donna came running in, Eric following more slowly behind her.

"Oh Donna, Eric, we're so glad you're here!" Kitty went to hug them both.

"I couldn't stay in Madison not knowing what was going on." Donna told them. "So what's going on?"

Red put Donna and Eric up to speed on what had happened since Hyde had conversed with Donna an hour before.

"So she's really in trouble?" Eric asked, now concerned.

"I don't know what I'm going to do!" Fez cried. "What if he taints her?"

Hyde wanted to explode at Fez, how dare that be his first concern?

Tires screeched to a halt in the drive way. Red ran out the door to see who it was.

"God damn it Kelso!" He shouted.

Kelso jumped out of the corvette. "I'm sorry! I sped all the way here!" He and Red went inside where Kelso was told what happened to Jackie.

Kelso kept his eyes on Hyde the entire time. He could tell that his friend was not reacting well. He was trying to hide his emotions just like always, but Kelso could tell that Hyde was wanting to bust out of his own skin. He knew because he felt the same way. The girl they loved was in trouble, and all Kelso wanted to do was punch something. He knew if he felt that way, then Hyde must have felt a million times worse. He wondered if Hyde knew he was so transparent. He guessed he didn't.

* * *

When Jackie returned back to consciousness she spat out the blood collecting in her mouth. She couldn't touch anything, but she knew she was bleeding from her face, from her hands, chest, shoulders and legs. He rarely hit the same spot twice. Briefly, she wondered if the marks would be permanent. There was no way Fez would love her she was no longer pretty. If Fez didn't love her, she thought to herself, no one would.

Mr. Kind walked in again. "I hope that we don't have to do that again."

She nodded. "No."

"Good girl." "I have something for you." He flicked on the light and Jackie closed her eyes as they hurt from the light. He held a mirror up to her face.

She was marked with tiny welts from the belt. Only one looked serious, but the rest would probably go away in a few days. She sighed in relief.

He had a notebook and a pen. "You're going to answer some questions, Jackie, and please, be honest."

"Why should I?"

"Because, Jackie, your life is on the line, so I'd be honest if I were you."

"Fine."

* * *

It was already two am; the majority of Point Place was asleep except for eight extremely worried people sitting in Red and Kitty Forman's kitchen.

"That's it!" Red said. "I'm going to the police and demanding they look for Jackie."

"I'll go with you, maybe I can get them to help." Kelso offered.

"What if the man calls again?" Kitty asked.

Red turned around at the door. "Let Steven handle it."

Red and Kelso left and the four looked at each other.

"Who wants pie?" Kitty asked.

Everyone but Hyde raised their hands.

"Steven? Would you like a piece of pie?"

No, as a matter of fact, he didn't want a piece of pie. He didn't know how any of them could think of pie when Jackie was god knows where, scared and alone, with some psychopath holding her hostage. Didn't Jackie have enough crap in her life without having to deal with this?

The phone rang again and Hyde answered it. He felt like he couldn't breathe.

"Let me speak to the boyfriend." The man sounded out of breath.

Hyde handed the phone to Fez. "Be cool man."

"Hello?" Fez said, apprehensively.

"Your girlfriend is a piece of work you know that?" He laughed. "I can see why you all like her so much."

"You keep your hands off her." Fez demanded.

"Let's get one thing straight here; I'm the one in charge. I make the rules. Now, I'm simply the middle man in this operation, but I'll be willing to let Jackie go if you do something for me."

"What?"

"Jackie just said some very interesting things about you guys. If you can all prove to me that you love her, then I will let her go. If not, you will never see your precious girlfriend again."

Fez gulped. "How do we do that?"

The man laughed. "I will call you on the hour, every hour with a different question. If you can answer them all correctly,"

"You'll let her go?"

"No, that's only the first of many tests to prove your devotion for her."

Fez thought about it. "Okay."

The man chuckled. "Alright, first question, what is Jackie's favorite flower?"

He repeated the question out loud to make sure he heard it right.

"Tiger lilies." Hyde said unconsciously. He had never given any to her, but she had told him that they were her favorites because a bunch used to grow in her back yard before her mother had them removed for the hot tub.

Fez repeated it, thinking all the while that he would have guessed roses.

"That is correct; I will call you when she wakes up again." He hung up the phone.

Fez turned and looked at Hyde. "He wants all of us to prove that we love her by passing a bunch of tests."

Kitty patted the table. "Okay, we can do this."

"I can't do this." Fez said, guiltily.

"Why the hell not?" Donna asked him.

"Because if Hyde hadn't said what her favorite flower is, I would have gotten it wrong! I don't know what Jackie's favorite things are."

Donna stared at Fez. "How is that possible? You've claimed to love her from afar for all these years."

"I never actually listened when she talked. I know what her bra size and her favorite perfume, but not all that other crap."

They all looked at Hyde expectantly.

"What?" He asked, knowing full well what they wanted.

"Hyde, I need your help."

"Fine." He said, relenting because he knew that if he didn't, they would never see Jackie again.

Hyde pushed the thought out of his head. Fez would pass the tests and then Jackie would come back and everything would be back to normal. He'd go back to drinking himself to sleep while Fez got to hold and comfort her. Fez was better at the comforting thing than he ever was anyway. But Fez just admitted that he never listened to Jackie. Sure, Hyde had pretended to fall asleep, but he always listened to her. Secretly, his favorite time of day had been he had come home from work and she would follow him into his room where they'd tell each other about their day. She would play with his hair as he told her about working at the office, and she would tell him school and what he had missed while he was gone.

She was going to be fine. He repeated it in his head like a mantra. He looked at the others sitting at the table and he could tell they were all trying to convince themselves of the same thing.


	2. Chapter 2

For the Edgar Allan Poe fan in us all.

First, points to all those who watched Kurtwood Smith on this week's House.

Second, who has seen the commercials for Laura Prepon's new show? Doesn't it look terrible?

This chapter may seem lighter than the previous one at first, but I assure you that this story is not a comedy, satire (okay maybe it is, but this is me we're talking about) this is a suspense story, and even the best suspense stories have light moments. Just kept that in mind.

* * *

It had been 3 hours since Mr. Kind had last called. 3 long, agonizing, painfully slow hours.

Red and Kelso were still had the police station, attempting to convince them of the seriousness of the situation.

"He said he'd call every hour." Fez muttered. "Where is that son of a bitch?"

It was Eric who answered the phone when it finally rang.

"Is Michael Kelso there?" The raspy voiced man asked.

"No, he's not." Eric replied, signaling the group.

"That's too bad; the next question was going to be for him."

"Can't you ask one of us?"

Mr. Kind chuckled. "I'm afraid not."

"Don't let him hang up!" Donna mouthed to her boyfriend.

"Look, just ask one of us a question instead? Ask me, I know stuff about Jackie that no one else does, including Kelso. Like I know that she says that her favorite TV show is Charlie's Angels but it's really Star Trek, and that the reason she was kicked off the cheerleading squad was because she got into a fight with the other cheerleaders because they were teasing a sophomore and…"

He wasn't able to continue though.

"If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and dial the number again."

Kitty took the phone out of Eric's hands. "Eric… it's okay."

Just then, Red and Kelso walked back in.

"How did it go?" Hyde asked, trying not to think about Eric's outburst.

"We gave them the number that guy gave to Fez, but when the police when to the location, everyone was gone." Kelso explained.

"What do you mean gone?" Kitty asked.

"It means that they've moved her." Red told his wife.

"The cops aren't going to be any help." Hyde's cynicism was in full effect. He took the silence to mean that they agreed with him.

"This guy is smart." Red said. "He must have known we'd give the number to the cops."

Hyde couldn't stand to be in the kitchen anymore. Without a word, he got up and went to the basement, followed diligently along by the rest of his friends.

* * *

"When's the last time you slept man?" Eric asked him.

"Don't start with me Forman."

Eric held up his hands defensively. "Sorry, but the next call could be for you and we have to be ready."

"Man, I hope he calls back for me." Kelso said. "I know all there is to know about Jackie."

Hyde glared at him but it was Donna who spoke. "Do you think this is a game? My best friend is being held by some maniac!"

"Come on people! This isn't the time to be fighting!" Fez yelled at all of them. "Let's focus on Jackie."

Eric nodded. "He's right. We need to think of things that guy might ask us so we can be ready."

"That's a good idea." Donna said, pulling out a notepad and a pen from inside the couch cushions. "Okay, well, I know that her idol is Mary Tyler Moore, and that she listens to Abba when she goes to sleep."

"Her favorite pizza topping is mushroom." Kelso said. Donna jotted it down.

The group looked at Hyde. "This isn't going to work. He's not going to ask us dumb questions like this. A monkey could know all this stuff."

Donna sighed. "Well, what do you think he'll ask?"

Hyde stood up. "I don't know." He admitted. "I'm not really functioning right now." He pointed to his head.

"Man, this never would have happened if I hadn't moved to Chicago." Kelso muttered.

"How do you figure?" Eric asked.

"Well, because I would have been here, to protect her."

Hyde snorted his coke. "Right, like how you protected her all those times you cheated on her."

"Oh, don't start with me Hyde; I'm not the one who married a stripper!" Kelso yelled at him.

Hyde was furious. "Because you showed up in Jackie's hotel room wearing a towel!"

"And I told you nothing happened!"

"Yeah, a month later, when I was already married."

"And yet, you stayed married even though you knew that nothing happened!"

"Because she was going to dump me anyway!"

The last sentence hung in the air for moment.

"Look you two," Fez said as he got up from the lawn chair. "It doesn't matter whose fault it was that Hyde and Jackie broke up, what matters is that she's with me now."

"Yeah, so?" Kelso responded.

"So, burrrrrrrrrrrn." Fez sang.

Donna, who had been watching the fight from the couch with Eric, started to laugh. "I can't believe you guys, you're fighting over Jackie still."

"Look, we all care about Jackie, even me." Eric said, trying to maintain the peace. "There's no need to fight about who lost Jackie to who or why."

Donna shook her head, disagreeing. "No, I think they do need to fight this out. Get it out into the open you know." She looked at Hyde. "Hyde, how do you feel about Fez dating Jackie?"

"I think it's a match made in hell." He answered honestly.

Fez rolled his eyes. "That's what we said about you, moron."

Hyde ignored him. "Seriously, what does Jackie see in you? You're creepy and perverted and she hates foreigners. "

Fez smirked. "Things change baby." "Except for the creepy and perverted part. That's still true." He smiled.

"See, that's my point. She'd be better off with Bob or the Lawn Gnome." Hyde retorted.

"Actually, I think the Lawn Gnome is spoken for my Mrs. Pritchett's Schnauzer." Eric joked.

The phone rang again, reminding everyone that the argument they were having was irrelevant. It didn't matter who had stolen Jackie from whom, because Jackie had been stolen from all of them. Hyde felt somewhat guilty as he picked the phone up. "Hello."

"Please tell me that Kelso is there this time." Mr. Kind begged.

"Here." Kelso sat beside Eric and took the phone. "Uh, hello?"

"Mr. Kelso, I'm calling to ask you you're question."

Kelso took a deep breath. "Go ahead."

"How many stuffed animals does Jackie have?"

Kelso laughed. "That's my question?" "Fourteen."

"Sorry, that's wrong."

"No wait, fifteen, Bob got her a stuffed bear for her graduation." Kelso said spastically.

There was silence on the other end. "That's correct, but I'm not going to count it."

"Oh come on!" Kelso begged.

"I'll give you another one instead." Mr. Kind told him.

"Yeah, okay. What is it?"

"How many times a month does Jackie go visit her father in prison?"

Kelso knew the answer off the top of his head. "Once, because she feels obligated because her mother won't do it but she doesn't tell anyone and she gets really depressed afterwards, so instead of hanging out with her friends she stays at home and writes in her diary about how she wishes her family was back together again."

"That was a little more information than I need to know." Mr. Kind told him, "But it's right." Kelso gave a relieved sigh.

"Congratulations." Mr. Kind said. "I'll call you back in an hour." He hung up the phone.

Hearing Kelso's speech got the wheels in Hyde's brain turning. It did seem like once a month she seemed more distant, and then suddenly more clingy. He always just attributed it to women problems.

Kelso was looking at Hyde like he was reading his mind. "And you wondered why she was always pestering you to marry her."

"She doesn't pester me." Fez told them. "In fact, every time I mention marriage she flees the room."

That caught Hyde's attention. "Wait, you mentioned marriage to Jackie?" The gang's full attention was on Fez.

"It wasn't a big deal." Fez responded. "I just asked her if she thought about it."

"Fez, Jackie always thinks about marriage." Kelso said.

"She said no." Fez answered matter of factly.

Hyde didn't know what the emotion he was feeling right now was. Part guilt, part relief, and something else he couldn't put his finger on.

* * *

When Jackie woke up she found that she had been unbound. She also noticed that she had been moved sometime in the night. The room Jackie was in was pitch black with no visible light source. Moving was out of the question as she couldn't see where she was going. She was certain of one thing though.

She wasn't alone.

"Who's there?" She asked, not able to keep the fear out of her voice.

Something was rattling, and breathing. She knew that who ever it was, they were coming towards her.

"Jackie?"

Oh god, they knew her name.

"Who is it?"

A cold hand touched her arm. "Jackie, calm down. It's okay."

Clearly this person had been in the chamber for far too long. "Who are you?" She asked again, starting to cry.

"It's Sam."

"Sam?" "As in the whore who stole my boyfriend?"

"Yeah." She sounded complicit.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jackie asked her.

"I was with my husband; we were on our way home and…"

"Is your husband okay?"

Sam didn't know. "I haven't see or heard anything for a month now."

Jackie started to hyperventilate. "I can't believe this." "I'm not supposed to be here!"

"Well, you are princess, so we better make the best of it."

"Where are we?" Jackie asked.

"I take that to mean your eyes haven't adjusted to the darkness." Sam commented.

"No, why?"

Sam sighed and took Jackie's hand. Jackie could feel something made of stone beside her.

"What is this?" Jackie asked. She pulled away from Sam and moved around, keeping her hand on the object. "Okay, well, it's long, and rectangular, stone, and there's an edge, like it's a lid…" She trailed off.

"Sam, tell me I'm not touching a dead person."

"You're not touching a dead person." Sam answered. "You're touching a dead guy's coffin!"

Jackie jumped back. "Oh my god!" She shrieked. "Get me out of here!" She screamed.

* * *

An hour later, the group reassembled in the Forman's kitchen along with Bob. Day light was just peaking from behind the clouds.

"Who wants scrambled eggs?" Kitty asked.

Everyone's hands went up. Food was just what they needed.

When the phone rang, it caused everyone to jump. Since he was closest to it, Red answered.

"Forman residence."

"Let me speak to Donna."

"Donna, for you." Donna got up and walked to Red who was holding the phone. With a nervous hand, she took it.

"This is Donna." She said into the phone.

"Donna, this is Mr. Kind."

Something was extremely familiar about Mr. Kind's voice to her but she couldn't place where she had heard it.

"Are you ready for your question?" Mr. Kind asked.

"Yes." Donna didn't hesitate. Her best friend merit badge was riding on this. She smiled slightly.

"What is Jackie's biggest regret?"

Donna wanted to hit her head on the wall. Of all the questions he could have given her, it had to be that one. It wasn't that she didn't know the answer, but that she didn't want to say it out loud in present company.

"Donna, time is running out." Mr. Kind reminded her.

"Going to Chicago." She deliberately looked at the wall instead of the three guys sitting at the kitchen table.

"That's very, very good, Donna." Mr. Kind was impressed. "I'll tell you what, how about instead of hanging up, you hand the phone to Steven Hyde."

Relief swept through Donna as she handed the phone to Hyde.

"What is my question?" Hyde asked as he took the phone.

"She talks a lot about you, more than the foreign guy. She must have been really hung up on you."

"Just ask me my question." Hyde wasn't in the mood for idle chit chat.

"Why do you want to save her life?" The man went on to explain. "I mean, it's obvious to everyone that you hate her, so I'm just curious, why would you want to save the life of someone you can't stand?"

"I never said that." Hyde said.

"Don't' trifle with me, why do you want to save her life?" Mr. Kind asked his voice full of anger.

"She's my friend." Hyde hoped it was enough.

"That all?" Mr. Kind asked. "Pity, I was hoping for something more romantic."

"Okay, fine, I want her to live because I don't hate her." It was all Hyde was going to say.

"I'm going to kill her tonight Mr. Hyde."

Hyde punched the wall. "No, just, don't."

"Then answer the bloody question!" Mr. Kind shouted.

"Because I can't imagine life without her." It was simple and direct, and got everyone's attention, including Jackie's current boyfriend.

"Congratulations, you just bought yourself more time, now I want you all to do something."

"What?" Hyde asked.

* * *

Jackie was now starting to get used to the darkness. She still couldn't see very well, but she could sense things. She knew that Sam was sitting in front of her, and that there were at least four coffins in the crypt.

"Do you know where we are?" She asked.

"We're in a cemetery." Well, something's never changed.

"I know that." Jackie bit back, "I meant where are we as in what city and or state."

Sam shrugged. "I don't know, I think we're still in Wisconsin though."

Something about this didn't make a lot of sense to Jackie. "I thought you went back to Vegas."

"We did, but we came back." Sam responded.

"Why would you do that?" Jackie asked, curious.

"I thought it would be a good place to start a family." Sam told her.

"You mean you wanted to be closer to Steven."

There was a sudden creaking noise then. Jackie jumped up, startled. "Oh god the dead are waking up. I'm too pretty to be some dead guy's late night snack!"

"No, they're feeding us."

A flashlight appeared, blinding Jackie.

"You two, get up against the wall." The light pointed the way. Jackie and Sam scooted over to the wall. "

"No funny business." The voice said again. Mr. Kind walked in with a bucket of KFC. He sat it down in the middle of the room. Jackie wasn't paying attention to him though, she was looking outside where he had left the door open.

She could see trees that were just starting to bloom. There was also a large farm house in the distance. Sam jumped at the chicken, bringing it to them. She handed a piece to Jackie who started to eat with vigor.

"I see that you're both fairing well."

"Where's my husband?" Sam asked.

"Tis, tis, you know I can't divulge that information, Samantha."

"Mr. Kind, please let us out. Whatever you want, we'll get it for you." Jackie pleaded.

"Oh, Jacqueline, you're so naïve." He laughed softly at her. "You'll be pleased to know though that your friends did very well on the first part of the test." He laughed again. "Of course, it doesn't matter because I have no intention of letting you go."

"But you promised!" Jackie yelled.

"Did I?" Mr. Kind asked. "I suppose I did. "Well, I'll tell you what, I'll let you go, under two conditions, one, your friends actually pass the second test and two…" With one swift motion, he hit Jackie over the head, knocking her unconscious.

Mr. Kind stared at Sam for a minute. "Get up, it's time to go." He helped pull Sam up. "The boss wants to see you."

* * *

What will happen to Jackie? Will the gang be able to stop arguing long enough to complete the test? How does Sam figure into all this? Why don't I just kill her off? Is her husband still alive? 


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you everyone who is reading and reviewing this. It makes me feel pretty.

Be sure to go over to Fan Forum dot com and go to the that 70's show, and then to the newest Zenmaster thread and vote for your top ten favorite zennie stories.

This is the last chapter. There may be an epilogue but I'm not sure yet. I hope you enjoyed it!

* * *

"_How are you feeling?"_

"_How do you thinking I'm feeling?" _

They seemed to be driving forever. No one dared speak while Red on the old dirt road that Mr. Kind had described on the phone.

"How far did he say it was?" Eric asked.

"He said we would see a sign." Hyde answered.

"And this sign," Fez started to say, "Wouldn't be a body hanging from tree would it?"

Donna looked up. "Oh my god!" She screamed.

Red slammed on the brakes and they were out of the car before he had even turned off the engine.

They couldn't keep their eyes off the body. It dangled from the tree as though it was some sort of Halloween decoration.

"I'm going to go throw up now." Fez told them, running off into the woods.

"Don't go far!" Kitty yelled at him.

Hyde couldn't take his eyes off the body. "Someone help me get her down."

Kelso nodded and started to climb the tree. Something about Hyde was off, he could feel it.

"Sucks huh?" He said, untangling the rope.

Hyde just gave him look that said, very simply, shut up.

"Well, we looked around." Donna told them when her and Eric returned.

"Yeah, there's an old farm house up the way, and a cemetery." Eric said.

"More importantly," Donna continued, "There's an old mausoleum in the middle of said cemetery."

Red raised his eyebrow. "How is that important?"

"Fez, buddy, come on!" Kelso called.

"No, you guys come here!" Fez yelled back. "I found something!"

The kids all groaned and went to join Fez. He was on the ground, digging ferociously with his fingers.

"What is it Fez?" Kitty asked, kneeling down beside him. Fez moved slightly so that the group could see what he was digging at.

"Oh god, it's wood." Donna choked.

"I bet it's a coffin." Eric told them.

"No shit, Sherlock." Red looked at the ground. "This is fresh."

Eric looked around. "Uh, guys, isn't the cemetery that way?" He pointed north.

"Yeah, so?" Hyde asked,

"So why is it all the way over here?"

That was all he needed to say, they all began to dig with their hands, scraping the loose soil with their finger nails.

Soon, it was mostly uncovered. There was no sound coming from it.

"Come on, help me open it up." Red told the guys.

"I'd pray, but I don't know what to pray for." Eric said. Hyde didn't ask what he meant though, because he knew.

Donna looked around. "While you guys open that up, I'm going to go check out that mausoleum."

"Eric, go with her." Red ordered.

Eric nodded and climbed out of the hole. "Come on Donna, let's go look at the creepy cemetery." He took Donna's hand and they walked through the woods to the cemetery.

"I think we should look in there." Donna pointed to the mausoleum.

"You mentioned that before, why?"

"Because, I looked on the map, this land used to be owned by the Burkharts."

Eric and Donna shared a look and ran to the old stone crypt.

"Help me open the door." Donna told Eric. With a few pushes, they were able to open the door.

* * *

"_You're never going to start healing until you open up." _

"One, two, three!" The guys managed to lift the lid of the coffin.

It wasn't Jackie in the coffin, but an old man.

"I don't think he's been dead for long." Red said.

Fez stared down at the man and shook his head. "Hyde, can I talk to you?" he asked. The two got out of the hole and went to find some privacy.

"Hyde, I've been thinking."

Hyde put his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, what is it Fez?"

Fez was interrupted though by Donna screaming.

* * *

"_Are you still having nighmares?"_

"_Yes." _

"_What happens in them?"_

"_I see his face."_

Donna and Eric walked into the dark room.

"This flashlight sucks." Eric said, hitting it as it kept fading out.

"Come on." Donna took Eric's arm and the two walked further into the old crypt.

It was too dark in there, even with the flashlight and the door opened. Donna could barely see her own feet or hands. She took a step and tripped.

"Ow! Donna cried.

Eric leaned down to help Donna up. "Are you okay?" He asked. He tried to feel for where Donna was.

A hand grabbed his arm and scratched.

"Ow, Donna, it's just me!" He whined.

"That wasn't me." Donna said, getting off the thing that tripped her.

Eric hit the flashlight again and shined it on the culprit.

Donna stared at her best friend for a minute. Her hair was knotted and sticky with her own blood. Her clothes were torn and showed skin covered in welts. Jackie's eyes were wide and frightened.

"You're not real."

Donna did the one thing she could do, she screamed.

* * *

"_They're never going to find who did this are they?"_

"_I'm sure the cops are looking."_

"_That's a no." _

The group ran to the mausoleum as quickly as they could, leaving Sam and the old man's bodies behind.

Kitty ran into the building first, her mother's instinct taking over.

"Jackie?" She asked, kneeling down in front of the frightened girl. "It's okay, it's us."

Jackie shook her head. "No, trick.." She started to cry. "Just let me go."

"Mom, you might want to be careful. She's already tried to attack me and Donna." Eric told her.

Kitty nodded. "I can't help her here anyway; we need to get her to the hospital." She looked at Red. "Red, help."

Red took a deep breath and grabbed Jackie and picked her up, ignoring her cries of protest.

The gang watched as Red carried Jackie out, followed by Kitty and Bob.

They didn't speak as they followed them back to the car, no one spoke as Red sped to the hospital, or when Jackie was admitted into emergency surgery.

It was Hyde who broke the silence.

"FUCK!" He hit the wall as hard as he could. No one admomished him for his language or for releasing his anger onto the wall. It was as though they had all been waiting for it to happen.

Defeated, Hyde sat back down in his chair and the silence was once again reinstated.

The doctor came in a few minutes later.

"Are you all here for Jackie?" He asked as the group scrambled towards him.

"We are." Red said.

"Well, I'm not going to lie to you, she's not doing well. It was touch and go for awhile; she had a lot of internal injuries, including a nasty concussion."

"But she's going to be okay right?" Eric asked his voice hitching.

The doctor shrugged. "We've repaired her injuries and we got the swelling in her head to go down, but we won't know anything for sure until she wakes up."

"Can we go see her?" Kelso asked his voice raw.

The doctor looked at the group and realized he wouldn't be able to say no. "One at a time. The nurse will show you the way."

* * *

"_I dreamt about Sam."_

"_You blame yourself for her death."_

"_No."_

"_Jackie, it's not your fault."_

Kitty stood in front of Jackie's monitors. "Well, it looks like your vitals are okay, so that's good."

She leaned down to move Jackie's hair off her face. "Well, at least they cleaned you up." Kitty told her. "You're starting to look like yourself again."

"Are you cold?" She asked the sleeping girl. "You look cold. I'll tell the nurse to get you another blanket." She gave the girl a kiss on the forehead and left the room to find Red.

* * *

Red Forman had seen many things in his life, some good, some not so much, but seeing her hooked up to machines made him more angry than he had ever been.

"So, the uh, Toyota is acting up again." Red said, not sure of what to say. "and you promised me you would help me fix it."

* * *

After Bob came out of the room, the gang all looked at each other.

"Who wants to go first?" Kelso asked. When no one answered, he decided he would do it.

"So, Jackie." Kelso sat down in the chair next to her. "You look like crap." He tried to joke. "Seriously, you need to do something about yourself." He smiled at her.

"I'm just kidding." He told her. "You look fine." He lied. "Or you will. The doctors said the scars can be fixed, and the bruising will fade. You might not be able to wear tank tops anymore, which is a shame."

Kelso sighed. "Hyde is really worried about you. He's trying to pretend he doesn't care, but he's scared. Hyde, scared." Kelso laughed slightly. "I think you should forgive him, Jackie."

He was interrupted by Eric coming in.

"Oh, hey." Kelso said to him. "I guess I'll go." He smiled sadly at his old girlfriend and left Eric and Jackie alone.

Eric sat down in the chair Kelso had just occupied.

"Okay, so Kurt and Spock landed on this planet…"

* * *

"Jackie, I think we need to break up." Fez was crying as he said this. "It's not because of how you look, because I don't care how you look. It's because Hyde loves you, and I think you love him. You should be together." Fez gave Jackie a small kiss goodbye.

* * *

"_How do you feel about Fez breaking up with you?"_

"_It's fine. It's better this way."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I mean, he doesn't need to see me like this." _

"_Are you talking about your appearance?"_

"_I'm talking about everything."_

As soon as Donna walked into the room she did what she had wanted to do for the past three days, and started crying.

"We found you." Donna told her. "So, you owe us midget. You have to wake up." She ordered her.

There was nothing more to be said. Donna found an empty space beside Jackie and carefully laid beside her. "I'm sorry." Donna whispered into Jackie's ear.

* * *

"_I think my friends are worried."_

"_That's understandable; you've been through some intense trauma."_

Donna walked out of the room feeling defeated. "It's all you." She told Hyde.

Hyde didn't know if he could do it. It wasn't because he didn't care about her, or because she looked bad, but because he didn't know what to say. What do you say to the girl you loved more than anything but kept hurting time and time again? What did you say to the girl who was currently dating your best friend?

"I'm sorry." The words were out of his mouth before he could even stop them. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

"_Tell me about Steven."_

"_What about him?" _

For the next week, Hyde was in the hospital the first thing in the morning, and he stayed until the nurses kicked him out at night. The others would come as soon as they got off work. Donna and Eric were staying with Bob, and Kelso was sleeping on Fez's couch.

Hyde didn't realize he was holding Jackie's hand until she squeezed it. "Puddin'pop."

He lifted his head and looked at her. "You're awake!"

She smiled slightly. "I knew you would find me."

Hyde was grateful for his Zen. "Yeah, well..." He stood up. "I'm gonna find your doctor."

* * *

"_I see you're wearing sunglasses."_

"_The sunlight hurts my eyes."_

"You guys are here a lot." The nurse said to them a week later. "This girl must be really special to you."

The gang said nothing to the nurse, and simply walked into Jackie's room. Since she had woken up three days earlier, they were now allowed in her room at once.

She was doing better. She was still covered in bandages and was on morphine for the pain, but she was, for the most part, better.

"Are you okay?" Donna asked when Jackie gave a soft cry.

"Yeah, I'm being poked by something." Donna reached underneath Jackie and pulled out a GI Joe. She threw it at Eric's head.

"Ow!" He rubbed his head.

"What is that doing on Jackie's bed?" Fez asked.

"He was describing how you guys rescued me." Jackie told them, smiling.

"So, mom and dad decided that you're going to move into Laurie's old room." Eric told her.

"Oh." Jackie didn't know what to say.

* * *

"_Tell me about your current relationship with him." _

"_I think he has feelings for me."_

"_And how does this make you feel?"_

"I'm telling you, Aquaman could kick Spiderman's ass."

Eric rolled his eyes. "Fez, Aquaman doesn't even do anything. He just swims."

"Both of you are wrong." Kelso told them. "Everyone knows that Batman beats them all."

That earned Kelso a glare from both guys. "Batman? He doesn't even have any super powers."

"He has the batmobile, Eric."

Fez nodded. "He's got a point."

"Spiderman still rules."

Hyde nodded. "He says that because he's geeky, just like Peter Parker."

Kelso and Fez laughed at Eric's expense.

"This is true." Fez said.

Jackie watched as her friends continued to argue about superheroes. She didn't need superheroes though. They had found her, and because of them, she was slowly starting to feel like herself again.

She had even let Fez and Donna take her shopping.

Hyde of course, followed, because that's what he did.

"He cares about you." Donna told her as they exited Fanny Farmer. "He just wants to make sure you're safe."

"Well, it's annoying." Jackie crossed her arms and glared at Hyde who was keeping his distance. "It was so much easier when we weren't speaking."

Donna sighed. "About that, you haven't really talked about what happened."

"I talk to my therapist." Jackie responded.

Donna and Fez shared a look. They didn't believe Jackie truly talked to her therapist for a minute.

* * *

"_How do you feel about what happened to you?"_

"_I was kidnapped and beaten. My hair was shaved off so that doctors could relieve the bleeding in my head. How do you think I am?" _

"_I think you're avoiding the issue." _

"_There's nothing to avoid."_

"_So you're telling me that you're not scared?"_

"You snuck out." The words were accusing.

"That's right."

Hyde slammed his fist into the table. "Damn it, Jackie, you can't do that!"

Jackie stared at him. "When are you going to accept that I'm okay?"

"When are you going to accept the fact that you're not?" Hyde asked her.

"I'm fine!" She shouted. "Everyone needs to just leave me alone." She ran out of the kitchen and up to her new room.

* * *

"So, I heard you and Steven had a fight." Red said the next morning when Jackie came down for breakfast.

"Don't tell me that he's doing it for my own good."

Red raised his eyebrow. "I wouldn't dream of it." He studied the girl for moment. "Finish your breakfast; you're going to help me with the car today."

Jackie did as she was told, and soon found herself in the garage wearing her old clothes. Red handed her the wrench.

"You know what to do." He cracked open a beer for himself and sat down as she rolled underneath the vehicle.

"Hey, have you see Jackie?" She could hear him ask about her.

Jackie silently prayed that Red wouldn't tell him.

"Can't say that I have."

Hyde sat down. "I know I've been annoying her, but man, she got kidnapped, and the guy is still out there. She just won't accept it."

It wasn't true. She did accept it. She accepted it every night when she double checked to make sure her window was locked, and she double checked every time she crossed the street, or when she opened her car, or she opened the closet to get her clothes.

She wasn't just scared. She was terrified.

* * *

"_Things were so much easier when he was a jerk. I knew what to expect."_

"_So you think he's over compensating?"_

"_I think he feels guilty."_

Jackie longed for the days when everything was normal again. When she could go outside without one of her friends following her or acting like someone was going to pounce at her at any moment.

"Where is everyone?" She asked, slowly walking down into the basement.

"They went to the movies." Hyde answered, not taking his eyes off the TV.

"Okay." She sat down on the couch.

"I see you aren't wearing your hat."

"Yeah, well, my hair has grown back in enough that I don't need it."

She knew she looked even smaller with short hair. She felt smaller.

"Stop it." She commanded when he wouldn't stop staring at her.

"You stop it." He teased.

"You really need to stop following me around." She said when she came out of the bathroom one day. "Nothing's going to happen to me in there."

She didn't understand what he had been through. Didn't understand the feeling of waiting for the next phone call, and wondering if it was the man who kidnapped her or the police saying they found her body.

She just didn't fucking get it.

"You never know." He joked. "You could uh, fall."

She gave him a slight smile. "Steven, I know what you're doing. I'm fine, really."

He put his hands on her shoulders. "Jackie, someone took you, and they haven't found who or why, and until they do, I'm going to watch after you."

Something about the way he said that made Jackie look down. He pulled her in close and held her as she cried. "Hey, it's okay." He whispered. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

She choked back her tears. "I'm sorry." She cried.

"No, no… Jackie, you did nothing wrong. I'm the one who is sorry."

"So, you feel guilty is that it?" Jackie asked accusingly. Whatever emotion she had been feeling before was now gone.

Hyde looked into her eyes. "Jackie, I'm going to say this to you once. When Fez told me that you hadn't come home, my heart fucking dropped."

"It's not like I left on purpose."

"I know! But you were still gone and I realized that I…"

"That what?" She asked.

"That I'd never see you again."

Jackie nodded thoughtfully. "And now that you can?"

"I don't want you out of my sight."

* * *

"_Do you think I'll ever be okay again?"_

"_You mean will you ever be like you were before the kidnapping?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Jackie, you will never be the same again, you can't go back in time and erase what happened to you. Nor can you forget it. The trick is to learn from it and use it to become a healthier, well adjusted person."_

"_What is there to learn from being kidnapped and beaten nearly to death?"_

"Turn on the TV." Donna commanded as she ran into the basement. Fez quickly turned it on.

The gang watched in fascination as the news reporter spoke. "Police apprehended the man when he broke into the Patterson estate."

"Oh my god." Jackie said when a picture of Mr. Kind flashed on the screen. "That was him."

"The man, James L. Price went by the alias of Mr. Kind. After searching his property, police found the bodies of three missing girls from the Osh Kosh area."

Fez quickly turned off the TV after seeing the look on Jackie's face.

"Jackie?" He asked, hesitantly. The others were waiting for her response.

She wasn't looking at them though, or the now blank screen. She was looking at the faint traces of rope burns on her arms. She could feel Donna move closer to her, and the eyes of everyone cared about the most were on her.

"Are you okay?" Eric asked.

Jackie looked up. "Yes." She got up from the couch to go upstairs but something made her turn around. She took off her sunglasses.

"No." It came out in a whisper, but they heard it. She found herself in between Donna and Hyde, and she knew that they were having a silent conversation above her head. She silently cursed tall people.

"We know." She wasn't sure who said it.

* * *

"I see Mrs. Forman made you smiley face pancakes." He smiled at her as he sat down for his own breakfast.

"Yeah, so, are you going to follow me around again today?"

"Actually, I was thinking of letting Donna and Eric take care of you. I've got to go check on the record store."

She smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"Steven?" She called as he started to walk out the door.

"Yeah, Jackie?"

"Do…" She trailed off, not able to ask the question.

He smiled patiently at her. "Jackie."

"Do you think maybe we could hang out in the basement later?"

He pretended to think about it. "Will I get to see you naked?"

She laughed. "Probably not."

"Oh… well, I guess."

She smiled. "Yay."

CUT

"_I think I understand what you meant about learning from my experience." _

"_And what did you learn?" _

"_That I have people who love me, who want to keep me safe." _

"_Are you sure that's all? What about you?" _

"_What about me?" _

"_What did you learn about yourself during that time?" _

That night everyone was gathered in the living room to watch The Godfather. Jackie stood inside the kitchen; listening to the people she considered her family. She remembered what her therapist had asked her. Taking a deep breath, Jackie walked through the doors.

They all looked up at her. Fez and Kelso were sitting on the floor; Donna, Eric and Kitty were on the couch. Hyde was on the piano bench and Red was in his chair. They were all looking at her expectantly.

Kitty had already turned off the TV. She smiled gratefully at her and took another deep breath.

"I'm ready to talk now."

CUT

So that's it, apart from the epilogue.

Thanks for reading, and most of all, thanks for clicking that button that says 'review.'

Oh and go read Casper1990's fic "The Morning after What?" It's freaking brilliant.


	4. Thank youAuthor's note

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who read this and left a review.

The epilogue and the missing chapter (for those of you who are confused about Sam's role) will be written!

In the meantime, go check out my other stories in my profile.


	5. Epilogue

**Epilogue. I had so much fun writing this, because well, crazy is my bread and butter.**

**Anyhow, this is short. I mean, really, really short. But it is what it is and I didn't want to ruin it with a bunch of unnecessary mumbo jumbo. If you feel inclined, leave a review when you're done. **

* * *

The long hallway was dark and stunk of mildew and piss as Jackie walked down it, her hand firmly grasped inside Hyde's.

"We don't have to do this you know." He had been saying that to her all day.

"Yes, Steven, I do." Because even though with the help of her therapist and her friends, she was slowly starting to mend herself, she still had questions.

And only one man could give her the answers.

"This uh, wouldn't be the same prison they put your dad would it?" Hyde held his nose to stop from inhaling.

Jackie shook her head. "No, daddy is in nice prison." She stopped. "And I thought we agreed he's in the jungle bringing freedom to the grateful natives." They said together.

Hyde gave her a slight smile. "You're right."

The guard at the door let them into the small room. There was a barred window that was too high to see out of, let alone escape through, but it let light in. Jackie and Hyde sat down at the table and waited.

"God, they couldn't clean this place up bit?"

"Jackie."

"At the very least they should clean it."

Hyde rolled his eyes. "Jackie."

"Shh!" She said when she heard footsteps. "I think they're coming."

The door slowly opened and a guard stepped through, followed by Mr. Kind and another guard.

"Sit down." The first guard ordered. Mr. Kind smiled slightly and sat across the table from Hyde and Jackie where he was handcuffed to the chair. The second guard left and closed the door, while the first one stayed inside.

"Why, hello Jackie." The man practically kissed her name. His voice sounded even more hoarse than it had a year ago.

Both Jackie and Hyde were silent as they both assessed the man in front of them. It startled both of them to think that someone so average looking, so, non descript could have done something so horrific.

Jackie took a deep breath. She was going to get through this.

"I need to know why." She looked deep into his eyes, searching for a tiny ounce of humanity. She saw none.

"I told you, I was only the middle man."

Hyde rolled his eyes. "They searched you dillhole, we know you worked alone."

The man shook his head and laughed slightly and pointed up towards the ceiling. It was Jackie who caught his meaning first.

"You're saying that God told you to do this?"

He smiled at Hyde. "Smart girl." He leered at Jackie. "I forgot how cute you were."

Hyde nearly jumped out of his seat but was caught by both Jackie's hand and a stern look from the guard.

"You don't get to talk about her." Hyde warned him.

Jackie sighed and absently played with the ring on her finger. "Why did 'God' make you do this?" She had known that he was crazy, but she didn't know it went this far.

Mr. Kind smirked. "God told me to help you."

"Right, like it told you to help Samantha and her husband." Hyde interjected.

The man laughed. "No, God told me to punish them for their wickedness." He looked back at Jackie.

"You are one of God's favorites, Jacqueline, surely you understand that he would not let those who hurt you get away with it."

"That's…" Jackie started to stutter as it started to make sense. "That's why you made my friends take that stupid test. If they failed, you were going to kill them." She gasped when he nodded.

"Yes."

Jackie looked at Hyde who was staring contemptuously at Mr. Kind. "You're sick." Hyde said. "God has nothing to do with this; you're just a sicko who got off on hurting Jackie."

Mr. Kind shook his head sadly. "I only punished Jackie to teach her obedience." He smiled at Jackie. "Even you, God's favorite, are not without boundaries."

Jackie gulped. She felt like they were going around in circles.

"Why is she God's favorite?" Jackie shot a look of thanks over at Hyde.

"Look at her. She's perfect." He leered at Jackie again.

Hyde had enough. He stood up and grabbed Jackie's arm, pulling her out of her chair. "Let us out."

The guard nodded and opened the door.

As soon as the door was opened, Hyde pulled her out into the hallway, down the long corridor they came in from and out the main doors where Red Forman was waiting.

"Well?" Red asked, obviously searching both Jackie and Hyde for damage, physical and otherwise.

"He's a complete nutball." Hyde told him. "He said God told him to do it."

Red muttered a long string of obscenities.

Jackie stayed silent as they walked to Red's car.

"You okay kiddo?" Red asked as they slid into the hot leather seats.

"Actually, Mr. Forman, I am. Steven is right, he is crazy, but at least I know why this happened you know?" She gave a slight laugh. "And you know, he wasn't be bossed around by my dad or anyone like that." It received a chuckle from both Hyde and Red.

* * *

"You sure you're alright?" Hyde asked as they climbed into their bed. 

"Yeah." Jackie realized that she was, in fact, fine. "I'm great." She said, kissing him softly.

* * *

Thanks. 


End file.
